Aims to Empower African Foreign Trade SMEs

KIGALI, RWANDA – Media OutReach Newswire – 26 March 2026 – XTransfer, world’s leading B2B cross-border financial platform, was honoured to have its Chief Strategy Officer, Neil Ni, participate in the Remittances Roundtable: Policy and Partnerships Shaping the Next Generation of Cross-Border Flows at the Inclusive FinTech Forum 2026 in Rwanda, underscoring the company’s commitment to advancing faster, cheaper, and more transparent cross-border flows across Africa, especially for SMEs engaged in international trade.

During the session, Neil joined a roundtable featuring Bernard Rwisumbura Nsengiyumva of the National Bank of Rwanda, Dr Francis Lwanga of Zambia Electronic Clearing House Limited, Owureku Asare of the Bank of Ghana, Mike Truter of Swift, and other distinguished guests, moderated by Luca Antonio Ricci of the International Monetary Fund. The panellists explored what will practically move remittances and cross-border flows forward in 2026–2027, including interoperability, corridor liquidity and FX constraints, and proportionate compliance.

One theme that resonated strongly is that policy is starting to catch up with market needs. A timely example is the new cross-border payment access initiative by the central banks of Kenya and Rwanda (announced 11 March 2026), which introduces mutual recognition and a “fast-track” pathway for licensed payment providers operating between the two countries.Neil noted that reducing duplicative licensing steps, aligning core compliance expectations, and improving supervisory coordination can shorten expansion timelines, lower administrative costs, and ultimately support more reliable and affordable cross-border payments.

“As we look to the next phase of growth, what matters is not only innovation in rails, but alignment in rules and execution,” Neil said. “Interoperability, proportionate compliance, and corridor liquidity are levers that can make cross-border flows meaningfully faster, cheaper, and more transparent without compromising trust.”

Drawing on XTransfer’s experience supporting SMEs in global trade, Neil shared that a practical roadmap includes building on interoperable infrastructure, implementing robust and scalable compliance, and partnering with regulators and local ecosystems to strengthen transparency and unlock corridor liquidity. He added that this is a key reason XTransfer is buildingX-Net, the industry’s first Unified Global B2B Trade Settlement Network and Risk Control Platform, to connect ecosystem partners and support safer, more standardised information flows for cross-border trade and payments.